Amnesty Report Blames Pakistan for Trouble in J&K

14th March 1999The Asian Age

NEW DELHI: Amnesty International, the London-based human rights watch dog, has charged militants in Jammu and Kashmir with targeting the minority Hindu community in the state.

In its report, released recently, the Amnesty International said innocent civilians were being targeted for no fault of their's and said an independent inquiry should be initiated to fix responsibility for killings.

"There is evidence that Pakistan has provided men, training and military support to some groups seeking accession of Kashmir to Pakistan," the report said, adding that officials in Islamabad, however, denied it.

Quoting observers, the report titled "If they are dead, tell us - Disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir," said trained Islamic fighters from a range of Muslim countries including Sudan and Afghanistan, believing themselves to be "holy warriors," engage in some of the most brutal abuses, especially targeting the Hindu community.

"Foreign militants have come to dominate terrorist brigades," it said, adding many observers believe that the so-called struggle in Jammu and Kashmir has changed with the entry of foreign militants into the valley.(PTI)

`Set up panel of migrants'

NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to set up within two weeks a committee to sort our the problems faced by Kashmiri migrants across the country.

The directions, issued by a three-member bench comprising human rights commission chairman Justice M. N. Venkatachalaiah, Justice V. S. Malimath and Virendar Dayal, stated that the committed should include two Cabinet ministers of the Jammu and Kashmir government and three senior bureaucrats.

The bench, issuing the directions on a bunch of cases pertaining to the displaced people from Kashmir, asked the complainant migrant organisations to propose a set of names for inclusion in the committee.

A plea by the complainants to include migrant representatives in the panel was also accepted by the commission which asked the state government to consider the proposal, advocate Pyare Lal Kaul, who appeared for the complaints, said. The Kashmiri Samiti, which is one of the complainant organisations, on Sunday said it would submit the proposals regarding the committee to the NHRC on Monday. (PTI)